What Might Have Been

Here's one headache Virginia Democrats must be relieved they do not have to face.

A top national Democratic financier has been charged with lying about his assets to get a $74 million loan from Citibank and leading Democrats have been racing to return his donations. Hassan Nemazee, son of an Iranian shipping tycoon and CEO of Nemazee Capital, served as co-chair of fundraising efforts for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign last year. And who was Clinton's campaign chairman? Former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.

Nemazee hosted an early fundraiser for McAuliffe at his New York Park Avenue home and, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, gave the former DNC chair $10,000 for his Virginia effort.

There is certainly no suggestion that McAuliffe or any other Democrat had involvement with the business deal that has landed Nemazee in hot water. But if McAuliffe had been the Democratic nominee, Republicans would have been trumpeting the connection, as sure as you can say Phil Hamilton.

It's exactly the kind of thing that made many Virginia Democrats uneasy about a McAuliffe candidacy. Instead, they went with Creigh Deeds, a rural state senator not exactly known for palling around with Park Avenue multimillionaires. How much has Nemazee given Deeds, as of his most recent finance report? $0.